I wanted to discuss a topic I don't see readily talked about in Forex trading, and that is Mental/Physical health. In order to Consistently profit from the markets, you need to be in sound physical and especially sound mental health. I am within 6 months of making the transition to Full time trading and have been profitable consistently now. One thing you need to consider is how to limit your time on the screens and how to stay healthy. Some thoughts:
- As you get better at trading/investing and start generating more of your income from this, the pressure increases
- You tend to get immersed in this business and forget about basic mental/physical upkeep
- Lack of sleep due to stresses of trading
The best way I've found to try and combat this, and I use the word TRY as I'm still working on it, is to put together a daily schedule on paper/calendar. Just like a successful trading strategy, you need to follow rules to ensure you have the mental focus capabilities to trade successfully. Some Best practices I have:
- Set specific trading Business times and DON'T DEVIATE. It's natural to want to be always connected, especially if you are profitable. Set parameters
- Document your sleep times. No waking up to trade in the middle of the night
- Exercise
- Completely Unplug on the Weekends. Even Warren Buffett and George Soros talk about the importance of leisure time.
Getting in a good routine will allow you to successfully trade for the long term. Hope this helps and I am open to anyone that has some great best practices for this.
Mahalo (Thank you),
Cris
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